How many miles can one travel in a day?

[Janx]

I couldn't find it in the 3.0 or 3.5 PHB (although I may have just overlooked it), but in past edition PHB's I believe the weight for weapons included things like the scabard/sheath, baldric/belts, etc. Including this stuff may still leave the weights a little high, but considerably closer. I think the idea wasn't so much about how much the weapon weighed when used, but how much the whole package weighed to wear or carry.

I recall buying scabbards and sheaths from the 2e PHB. It's 3e that assumed "packages" for weapons and clothing.

 

[delericho]

I recall buying scabbards and sheaths from the 2e PHB. It's 3e that assumed "packages" for weapons and clothing.

It's funny - I was all set to point out that this was incorrect, but then I checked the 2nd Edition PHB. Sure enough, scabbards are listed separately. (In all the time we played 2nd edition, we never bought such things.)

In 1st Edition, 3e and 4e, scabbards and sheaths are bought in the packages.

I'm pretty sure 2nd Edition has the handwave about the encumberance of items including both their real weight and the bulk of the items (justifying the unrealistic weights of such things). The 1st Edition PHB has comments about both weight and bulk (and counts weight in coins). I don't think the 3e or 4e PHBs have this handwave.

 

[jedijon]

I'd wager the average person can walk a mile in an hour. So, presuming an 8 hour rest, that's 16 hours of walk-time. So, 16 miles.

A party, due to the nature of a group, would probably go slower, so maybe 12 miles(round down to multiples of 5 for easy math).

Depending on the harshness of terrain, even less. The more extreme, the shorter the distance they can travel.

I've hiked in 10 states, and almost always average 2 miles per hour when on terrain with some up/downhill (i.e. ALL places) with a variety of groups.

You're going to get blisters and tendon fatigue (joint-pain) after 5 hours of walking, and 8 will be a killer. If you're NOT in shape, remember we're talking real world stuff here, good luck making 10 miles without feeling kicked in the everywhere.

I've had clients try to bum rides on day 2 before 24 miles were up. Your "hardened" D&D folks aren't going further than 15 miles a day without magic. Footwear is crappy, meal prep takes inordinately long, and supplies are ungodly heavy. You're going to need at least 20 lbs of water a day in hot weather.

Cross country travel through uncivilized areas is no joke.

 

[S'mon]

IME 2 miles/hour is pretty typical through moderately rough terrain if rest breaks are included; an easy day's hike of 10 miles takes around 5 hours including an hour for lunch and maybe 0.5 hours short rest.

"You're going to get blisters and tendon fatigue (joint-pain) after 5 hours of walking, and 8 will be a killer. If you're NOT in shape, remember we're talking real world stuff here, good luck making 10 miles without feeling kicked in the everywhere"

I guess, if by 'NOt in shape' you mean someone who never walks further than across the car park. As a typical Londoner I'm walking around 1.5-2 miles/day on average just getting around, and a 10 mile hike over a day is no big deal. When I was in the army reserve I was moderately fit and could do much more than that easily.

Edit: All my experience indicates that Mentzer/BECM D&D's 24 mile hexes, based on what a light to moderately encumbered fit person could walk in a day on level terrain without forced marching, are accurate.

 

[luckless]

How far you can travel in a day really depends on what you are doing, what you are traveling on, whether or not you know where you're going, what you are carrying, and of course, how good of shape you're in.

Traveling day after day after day? You are going to be hard pressed to cover much more than 20 miles a day if you have anything other to do besides walk in a straight line in open land while carrying a relatively light pack.

In very rough woods where you have to blaze your own trail, find food and water, and make yourself a secure campsite in a short northern day, and all the while taking readings for mapping or something, then you might be hard pressed to make 10, or even 5. (Remember, if you have to gather fire wood and such before dark, it can really cut into how long you can actually spend traveling. Add in a lot of other tasks you have to do, and finding time to walk a full 8 hours can get hard, especially when your nights are long.)

Modern ultra light gear, where you're packing all your food as freeze-dried, high energy food, on well traveled trails that are perfectly safe to keep your eyes 10 feet in front of you and boot along at a good clip over a weekend, and a modern LED head lamp? Sure, a human in good shape could cover 50 or more miles without hardship.

 

[CharlesRyan]

I read that the US Marine corps reckon they have a sustained march rate of 10 km/day, while the US Army is not capable of sustained march.

Check your sources. Certainly wasn't the case when I was in the army.

 

[Forge]

Nijmegen is a 4 day walking event held in Europe every year with around 40,000 participants. Many military units participate and for the US its usually with a 40 pound pack and combat boots, doing 40 kilometers (25 miles) a day.

When I was stationed in Belgium I had several friends who trained for weeks, and still said it was a hard event to finish. There are other categories that have walkers doing 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) a day.

The web site is at:
Vierdaagse - Home

 

[nerfherder]

During the Falklands War the British soldiers marched across the boggy island carrying 100-120 lb or so each. The Argentines didn't think this was possible, due to having been trained by Americans.

56 miles in 3 days carrying 80lb each, according to wikipedia.

Movement would be 'under constant enemy fire from the air, in an area without cover, wood, drinking water or means of subsistence'. When his men arrived, worn out by the long trek, they would have to go into immediate action against an enemy well prepared and supported by field artillery.

 

[Nyeshet]

Just yesterday I was watching a documentary that touched on this topic. They were trying to determine just how long it would have taken a stone age culture to transport obsidian from one site to another, so they had a Maasai warrior leave the obsidian site at dawn while wearing some type of pedometer to determine how long a distance he had travelled. He was to return at sunset after having walked as far as he could in the brush, based upon his own understanding of the territory. He arrived just before sunset, having walked 14.88 miles.

Now, this was through the brush - no trails, some uphill and downhill, in light woodland / savanna - and it was a casual walk, not a forced march. Also, he was very familiar with the territory. I think this gives us an idea of an average pace in the brush for one day.

 

[Callista]

Yet another personal example.
I like to walk, and my area has an extensive network of paved bike trails. From my town to the next is eight miles; and I generally make the distance in about three hours. The walk back in the evening is usually three and a half hours; so that's sixteen miles in less than eight hours. But this is on a paved, mostly level trail, with a pack weighing no more than ten pounds--not through woods or on a big incline, and not on days when it's raining, below freezing or unusually hot. I've not measured my speed when hiking off-road but I can only imagine it is a great deal slower. As for my fitness level: I probably have a somewhat above average CON score... 12 or so, maybe. I'm pretty average when it comes to physical endurance and I'm overweight, but I don't get sick very often and I do like to walk or bike relatively long distances.